Reform UK going from strength to strength.

[sparky88]

The Reform candidate for Glasgow North is called Helen Burns. I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to find anything about her but can't see anything at all. You have to be a real person to stand in an election, don't you? 

[Turkmenbashi]

12 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

The Reform candidate for Glasgow North is called Helen Burns. I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to find anything about her but can't see anything at all. You have to be a real person to stand in an election, don't you? 

I also had the same problem for the candidate in Glasgow West. Only to find she had probably changed her lastname after she had been outed as a massive racist when she stood previously for the Brexit Party.

[Salvo Montalbano]

12 hours ago, Jedi2 said:

So for all the 'we settled teachers/nurses/police etc pay disputes (eventually)..award these workers a rise then hit them with Higher tax, which kind of defeats the purpose of the pay rise and makes it smoke and mirrors.

As a teacher in a state school "hit" with the higher tax, I'm happy to and would happily pay more tax if it meant more money was spent in education, particularly in the return of dedicated behaviour support units and around addional support needs/more pupil support assistants. You'd be surprised how many people don't mind paying a bit of extra tax if they see something from it. The issue with the tax rises the Tories have overseen is that we don't have anything to show for it as it has been wasted on things like dodgy PPE contracts and tax cuts higher up the food chain. Labour seem to have been spooked by the old Lib Dem "1p more to pay for the NHS" policy and have been backed into a corner where they've committed to not increasing any of the big four taxes, not changing council tax and not borrowing. With such a big lead in the polls they could have probably got away with a 1p extra for medium earners and 2p more for the uber wealthy if they said it was ringfenced for the NHS, education and the likes. But we'll never know.

[Leith Green]

48 minutes ago, sparky88 said:

The Reform candidate for Glasgow North is called Helen Burns. I've spent longer than I care to admit trying to find anything about her but can't see anything at all. You have to be a real person to stand in an election, don't you? 

 

34 minutes ago, Turkmenbashi said:

I also had the same problem for the candidate in Glasgow West. Only to find she had probably changed her lastname after she had been outed as a massive racist when she stood previously for the Brexit Party.

A fair number of the Reform candidates dont live here, and have just been put up for the GE.

I know the candidate about to lose a deposit in Falkirk lives in Derby or something.........................

[Musketeer Gripweed]

I've known my local Reform candidate since school and him standing for them just confirms what I have always thought of him. A fucking dick.

[Granny Danger]

31 minutes ago, Musketeer Gripweed said:

I've known my local Reform candidate since school and him standing for them just confirms what I have always thought of him. A fucking dick.

There’s a worry that all these folk who draw cocks on their ballot papers will see their votes getting defaulted to Reform!

[HTG]

Multiple examples of this before the account was deleted. Nothing to do with Reform though - just another bad apple in the fascist barrel. That said, you don't need to go too far down the comments on the second link before someone suggests it's being done by someone to damage Reform. 

https://x.com/GBGreatAgain/status/1808443912123560012

[carpetmonster]

Seems a bit rum, given how much he resembles a potato. 

[coprolite]

3 hours ago, HTG said:

Multiple examples of this before the account was deleted. Nothing to do with Reform though - just another bad apple in the fascist barrel. That said, you don't need to go too far down the comments on the second link before someone suggests it's being done by someone to damage Reform. 

https://x.com/GBGreatAgain/status/1808443912123560012

They don’t look dead

and if they are they shouldn’t be claiming a pension 

send them back to Romania

brexit means Brexit 

[Jedi2]

6 hours ago, Salvo Montalbano said:

As a teacher in a state school "hit" with the higher tax, I'm happy to and would happily pay more tax if it meant more money was spent in education, particularly in the return of dedicated behaviour support units and around addional support needs/more pupil support assistants. You'd be surprised how many people don't mind paying a bit of extra tax if they see something from it. The issue with the tax rises the Tories have overseen is that we don't have anything to show for it as it has been wasted on things like dodgy PPE contracts and tax cuts higher up the food chain. Labour seem to have been spooked by the old Lib Dem "1p more to pay for the NHS" policy and have been backed into a corner where they've committed to not increasing any of the big four taxes, not changing council tax and not borrowing. With such a big lead in the polls they could have probably got away with a 1p extra for medium earners and 2p more for the uber wealthy if they said it was ringfenced for the NHS, education and the likes. But we'll never know.

I have been a teacher in a state school for 28 years now as well, and don't disagree about extra tax, if you can see it reinvested into education and health particularly the areas you suggest.

Also agree that Labour could (and should) have got away with an 'extra 1p for Education and Health' approach.

However being a teacher and due to various 'issues' to say the least with the SNP and Education over the past few years is one of the main reasons I couldn't vote for them.

[strichener]

I propose that the Scottish government introduce a 75% teachers tax rate since they all want to pay higher taxes.

[Fullerene]

8 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

There’s a worry that all these folk who draw cocks on their ballot papers will see their votes getting defaulted to Reform!

Maybe you could record a YouTube clip on how to properly draw a cock on a ballot paper without it counting as a vote for Reform.

I think that would be very helpful.

[Granny Danger]

43 minutes ago, Fullerene said:

Maybe you could record a YouTube clip on how to properly draw a cock on a ballot paper without it counting as a vote for Reform.

I think that would be very helpful.

Your faith in me is both endearing and misplaced.

[MacDuffman]

Read the other day about a Tory getting a vote when someone drew a cock & balls against his name. Because it was inside the box it counted as a vote.

My missus was canvasing the other day and some daftie said she wanted independence and to get back in Europe so she was voting for Fromage.

[Arch Stanton]

23 hours ago, lichtgilphead said:

Misleading as ever, Jedi

 A worker on £26562 will pay less tax than someone on the same salary in rUK, because he will benefit from the 19% rate payable between £12,571 & £14,876.

The exact income tax payable in Scotland will be £2775, whilst in rUK, it will be £2798 - check here: link to calculator

The point where the Scottish/rUK tax takes are equal is on a salary of ~£28850 - slightly above the median Scottish earnings. In other words, 51% of Scottish raxpayers will pay less tax than their counterparts in England  - another link

In addition, your superficial analysis and your faux concern for public sector workers totally fails to take into account the fact that the pay scales in Scotland mean that public sector workers in Scotland tend to earn more than their equivalents in rUK (excluding London) . In fact, the median pay for a full-time public sector employee in Scotland was around £1,500 higher than in the UK in 2023. link

What would you prefer, Jedi? A public sector salary of £44,000 in Scotland or £42,500 in rUK (excluding London)?

One will get a take home pay of  £34,977. the other will take home £34,120 (figures do not include pension payments)

Guess who has the better pay packet at the end of each month?

He won't respond to that.

[GordonS]

On 02/07/2024 at 22:41, lichtgilphead said:

Misleading as ever, Jedi

 A worker on £26562 will pay less tax than someone on the same salary in rUK, because he will benefit from the 19% rate payable between £12,571 & £14,876.

The exact income tax payable in Scotland will be £2775, whilst in rUK, it will be £2798 - check here: link to calculator

The point where the Scottish/rUK tax takes are equal is on a salary of ~£28850 - slightly above the median Scottish earnings. In other words, 51% of Scottish raxpayers will pay less tax than their counterparts in England  - another link

In addition, your superficial analysis and your faux concern for public sector workers totally fails to take into account the fact that the pay scales in Scotland mean that public sector workers in Scotland tend to earn more than their equivalents in rUK (excluding London) . In fact, the median pay for a full-time public sector employee in Scotland was around £1,500 higher than in the UK in 2023. link

What would you prefer, Jedi? A public sector salary of £44,000 in Scotland or £42,500 in rUK (excluding London)?

One will get a take home pay of  £34,977. the other will take home £34,120 (figures do not include pension payments)

Guess who has the better pay packet at the end of each month?

I absolutely guarantee that their response to this will be straight-up deflection, bouncing to any remotely related issue where they can continue whining about the SNP.

[Jedi2]

3 hours ago, strichener said:

I propose that the Scottish government introduce a 75% teachers tax rate since they all want to pay higher taxes.

Sounds fair

[GordonS]

BTW, while we're all worrying about the Reform vote after 10pm tomorrow, worth remembering that UKIP got 12.6% in 2015 and fell to 1.8% just two years later. When the Tories get themselves together Reform will disappear to nothing again. Without Brexit they're just a gammon protest vote.

[eindhovendee]

3 hours ago, Fullerene said:

Maybe you could record a YouTube clip on how to properly draw a cock on a ballot paper without it counting as a vote for Reform.

I think that would be very helpful.

I spoilt my ballot by voting for the SNP at the 2015 election in my English constituency, I tried to take a pic but got shouted at be one of the officials. Apparently its against the law.

Spoilsports.

 

[Miguel Sanchez]

12 hours ago, Granny Danger said:

There’s a worry that all these folk who draw cocks on their ballot papers will see their votes getting defaulted to Reform!